The  Socialist 
Conspiracy  Against 
Religion 


Wi> 


By  JOS.  J.  MERETO 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  RED  CONSPIRACY" 


TEN  CENTS  PER  COPY 


Copyright  1919  by 

ICONOCLAST  PUB.  CO.,  1110  Security  Bldg..  Chicago 


) 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST 
RELIGION 

It  is  but  proper  to  begin  this  pamphlet  by  conceding  that 
there  are  many  church-going  members  among  those  who  vote 
the  Marxian  ticket  not  as  an  indorsement  of  the  teachings  of 
international  Socialism,  but  merely  as  a  protest  against  po- 
litical corruption  and  the  abuses  of  capitalism.  Justice,  more- 
over, demands  that  we  acknowledge  the  existence  of  a  small 
minority  of  dues-paying  members  of  the  party  who  neither 
attack  religion,  nor  tacitly  approve  of  the  atheistic  propaganda 
carried  on  in  the  official  Marxian  press  as  well  as  in  the  books, 
pamphlets  and  magazines  on  sale  not  only  in  the  leading  So- 
cialist book-stores  of  America  but  even  at  the  National  Office 
of  the  party  in  Chicago. 

In  most  countries  of  Europe,  where  the  war  against  religion 
is  much  more  open  and  widespread  than  in  America,  the  So- 
cialists are  frank  in  confessing  that  their  movement  is  atheis- 
tic and  anti-religious. 

In  our  own  country  some  of  the  more  violent  Socialistic  ene- 
mies of  the  church  admit  both  in  their  speeches  and  in  their 
writings  that  they  would  be  extremely  happy  to  see  the  very 
idea  of  God  become  a  matter  of  ancient  history.  Christian  So- 
cialists of  the  Carr  faction,  who  constitute  a  minority  of  far  less 
than  1  per  cent  of  the  Socialist  Party  of  the  United  States, 
have  not  only  conceded  the  existence  of  an  atheistic  propa- 
ganda within  the  ranks,  but  have  attacked  it  and  utterly  failed 
to  suppress  it.  Apart  from  these  two  classes  of  American  So- 
cialists who  admit  the  existence  of  a  campaign  in  favor  of 
atheism,  most  Socialists  in  our  country,  because  they  fear 
that  votes  will  be  lost  if  our  people  are  convinced  of  the  anti- 
religious  character  of  the  party,  steadfastly  deny  that  they 


4     THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


are  conspiring  against  religion.  Indeed  they  are  quite  cunning 
and  crafty  in  their  efforts  to  beguile  the  unwary.  If  the  per- 
son hesitates  joining  the  party,  owing  to  his  conviction  that 
nearly  all  the  Socialist  leaders  have  been  the  enemies  of  re- 
ligion, he  is  informed  that  it  would  be  just  as  foolish  for  him 
not  to  be  a  Revolutionist  for  this  reason,  as  it  would  be  for 
one  not  to  become  a  Democrat  merely  because  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson was  an  atheist,  or  for  one  to  refuse  to  vote  the  Repub- 
lican ticket  since  IngersoU  did  not  believe  in  God. 

As  the  conspirators  against  religion  have  by  this  plausible 
argument,  involving  the  names  of  Jefferson  and  Ingersoll,  re- 
moved the  prejudices  that  many  persons  formerly  had  against 
Socialism  on  account  of  the  atheistic  teachings  of  its  leaders, 
it  seems  but  fitting  to  give  a  short  refutation  of  the  deceptive 
argument  and  to  point  out  the  absurdity  of  the  comparison 
just  mentioned. 

In  the  first  place,  although  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Robert 
Ingersoll  were  atheists,  neither  of  them  ever  stated  that 
Democracy  or  Republicanism  was  anti-religious.  On  the  other 
hand,  very  many  of  the  highest  authorities  in  the  Marxian 
Party,  whose  extensive  knowledge  of  Socialism  justifies  our 
belief  that  they  know  but  too  well  the  policy  of  the  revolu- 
tionary movement,  admit  that  Socialism  postulates  atheism 
and  war  against  religious  beliefs.  Jefferson  and  Ingersoll 
never  attacked  religion  nor  taught  atheism  with  a  view  to 
furthering  the  cause  of  Democracy  or  of  Republicanism.  But 
a  very  large  number  of  the  Socialists,  whether  Europeans  or 
Americans,  in  their  endeavor  to  promote  what  they  consider 
to  be  the  best  interests  of  their  party,  have  in  their  books, 
magazines,  pamphlets  and  papers  been  waging  a  relentless 
war  against  religion.  The  atheistical  works  of  neither  Thomas 
Jefferson  nor  of  Robert  Ingersoll  were  purchased  by  the  rank 
and  file  of  their  parties  for  purposes  of  party  propaganda,  but 
the  rank  and  file  of  the  Revolutionary  Party  spend  large  sums 
of  money  on  publications  in  which  their  avowed  leaders  teach 
atheism  as  part  of  the  Socialist  program.  Not  content  even 
with  this,  the  members  do  their  utmost  to  increase  the  circu- 
lation of  anti-religious  Socialist  books,  magazines,  pamphlets 
and  papers. 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


Before  producing  the  evidence  that  will  convict  the  Social- 
ist leaders  and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party  of  openly  advo- 
cating atheism  and  of  hostility  to  religion,  or  at  least  of  tacitly 
approving  of  such  a  propaganda,  a  few  words  must  be  said 
relative  to  the  materialistic  conception  of  history,  or  of  eco- 
nomic determinism,  as  it  is  often  called.  According  to  this 
doctrine,  which  is  one  of  the  fundamental  teachings  of  the 
Socialists,  the  whole  history  of  mankind,  including  its  po- 
litical, intellectual  and  religious  development,  is  nothing 
more  than  a  process  of  evolution,  the  guiding  principle  of 
which  is  the  prevailing  economic  conditions  and  their  re- 
sultant class  struggles.  Consequently,  the  Socialists  who  be- 
lieve this  doctrine  deny  the  intervention  of  God  in  the  devel- 
opment and  spread  of  the  Christian  religion;  for  economic 
determinism  teaches  that  the  development  of  the  Church  is 
not  the  work  of  Divine  Providence,  but  of  the  economic  con- 
ditions and  class  struggles  of  society. 

W.  D.  P.  Bliss,  the  Socialist  editor  of  the  "New  Encyclo- 
pedia of  Social  Reform,''  in  an  article  on  page  1135  of  his  work 
admits  that  it  is  perfectly  true  that  the  large  majority  of 
avowed  Socialists  are  divorced  from  recognized  religion  and 
the  church,  and  that  this  leads  many  of  them  to  extreme  rad- 
icalism on  all  questions  of  ethics,  money  and  the  family. 

THE  CONSPIRACY  ON  THE  PART  OF  EUROPEAN 
SOCIALISTS. 

Frederick  Engels,  a  Socialist  of  great  renown,  who,  together 
with  Karl  Marx,  wrote  the  '^Communist  Manifesto"  and  was 
the  author  of  other  celebrated  Socialist  works  in  German  and 
English,  taught  that  "nowadays  in  our  evolutionary  concep- 
tion of  the  universe,  there  is  absolutely  no  room  for  either  a 
Creator  or  a  ruler."  ("Socialism,  Utopian  and  Scientific,"  by 
Frederick  Engels,  page  17  of  the  Introduction  to  the  1901 
edition  in  English-New  York  Labor  News  Co.). 

Wilhelm  Liebknecht,  who  until  shortly  before  his  death  in 
1900  was  one  of  the  foremost  leaders  of  the  Socialist  Party  in 
Germany,  addressing  the  Halle  Convention,  said :  "As  re- 
gards my  own  self,  I  had  done  with  religion  at  an  early 


6     THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


age  I  am  an  atheist,  I  do  not  believe  in  God  We 

may  peacefully  take  our  stand  upon  the  ground  of  Socialism, 
and  thus  conquer  the  stupidity  of  the  masses  in  so  far  as  this 
stupidity  reveals  itself  in  religious  forms  and  dogmas."  The 
same  German  Socialist  and  atheist  taught  in  his  book,  "Ma- 
terialist Basis  of  History" : 

"It  is  our  duty  as  Socialists  to  root  out  the  faith  in  God  with 
all  our  zeal,  nor  is  anyone  worthy  the  name  who  does  not  con- 
secrete  himself  to  the  spread  of  atheism." 

August  Bebel,  who  before  his  death  in  August,  1913,  was 
the  leader  of  the  Socialists  of  Germany,  gave  many  proofs  of 
the  intimate  relation  existing  between  Socialism  and  atheism. 
On  September  16,  1878,  he  declared  in  the  Reichstag: 

"Gentlemen,  you  attack  our  views  on  religion  because  they 
are  atheistic  and  materialistic.  I  acknowledge  the  correctness 
of  the  impeachment.  I  am  firmly  convinced  that  Socialism 
finally  leads  to  atheism." 

In  the  Reichstag  on  December  31,  1881,  he  made  the  fol- 
lowing profession  of  faith: 

"In  politics  we  profess  republicanism,  in  economics  Social- 
ism, in  religion  atheism." 

According  to  the  1903  platform  of  the  German  Socialists, 
adopted  at  Dresden,  "No  religious  instructions  of  any  kind 
shall  be  given  to  children  under  the  age  of  sixteen ;  after  that 
they  can  select  their  own  religious  tenets  and  teachings  as 
they  please.  Superstitious  religious  notions  that  are  current 
among  the  less  educated  classes  are  to  be  eradicated  through 
proper  instructions." 

"The  Comrade,"  September,  1904,  confesses  that  the 
satirical  weekly,  "L'Asino,"  published  by  the  Socialists  of 
Italy,  and  known  throughout  the  world  for  its  attacks  on  re- 
ligion, carries  on  a  bitter  fight  against  the  Catholic  Church. 

In  the  early  part  of  1913,  L'Asino,  speaking  of  the  coming 
Italian  election,  boasted  that  the  Socialists  would  proclaim 
their  anti-clericalism  and  atheism  in  the  public  meetings. 

The  Austrian  Socialists  in  convention  at  Linz,  May  30, 
1898,  passed  a  resolution  proposed  by  Pernerstorfer  to  the 
effect  that  "Socialism  is  directly  contradictory  to  Roman  cler- 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  7 


icalism,  which  is  enslaved  to  unyielding  authority,  immutable 
dogmas,  and  absolute  intellectual  thraldom.  We  doubt  all  au- 
thority, we  know  of  no  immutable  dogma,  we  are  the  cham- 
pions of  right,  liberty  and  conscience."  (Reported  in  '*Vor- 
waerts,"  1898,  No.  126,  suppl.). 

The  bitter  persecution  that  has  for  years  been  waged 
against  the  church  in  France  is  too  well  known  to  require 
much  comment.  The  representatives  of  the  French  Socialist 
Party  at  Tours  in  March,  1903,  voted  upon  a  program  from 
which  several  clauses  will  be  cited: 

**The  Socialist  Party  needs  to  organize  a  new  world,  free 
minds  emancipated  from  superstition  and  prejudices.  It  asks 
for  and  guarantees  every  human  being,  every  individual,  ab- 
solute freedom  of  thinking,  and  writing  and  affirming  their 
beliefs.  Over  against  all  religious  dogmas  and  churches  as 
well  as  over  against  the  class  conceptions  of  the  bourgeoisie, 
it  sets  the  unlimited  right  of  free  thought,  the  scientific  con- 
ception of  the  universe,  and  a  system  of  public  education 
based  exclusively  on  science  and  reason.  Thus  accustomed 
to  free  thought  and  reflection,  citizens  will  be  protected 
against  the  sophistries  of  the  capitalistic  and  clerical  reac- 
tion." The  program  also  declares  for  the  ^'abolition  of  the 
congregations,  nationalization  of  property  in  mortmain  of 
every  kind  belonging  to  them,  and  appropriation  of  it  for 
works  of  social  insurance  and  solidarity." 

In  the  Tours  program,  therefore,  we  have  the  open  confes- 
sion of  the  Socialist  Party  of  France  that  it  is  anti-religious 
and  that  it  favors  the  disgraceful  robbery  of  the  church  that 
has  for  many  years  been  going  on  in  that  country. 

The  Belgian  Socialists  are  quite  as  violent  as  the  French 
in  their  hatred  of  the  church,  for  in  addition  to  the  large  num- 
ber of  vile  anti-religious  pamphlets  distributed  during  the 
campaign  that  preceded  the  elections  of  1912,  we  have  the  tes- 
timony of  no  less  an  authority  than  the  Socialist  leader,  Emile 
Vandervelde,  in  ^'Social  Democrat,"  England,  January,  1903: 

"In  the  end  the  question  to  be  solved  is :  what  is  the  essen- 
tial aim  of  Socialism?  There  is  not  a  Socialist  who  would 
hesitate  to  say  that  it  is  the  emancipation  of  the  workers,  the 


8     THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


freedom  of  the  proletariat — and  by  this  freedom  we  mean  its 
complete  freedom,  the  abolition  of  all  slavery  in  the  spiritual 

sphere  as  well  as  in  the  material  sphere  Can  a  sincere 

believer  follow  the  church's  teachings  and  yet  be  a  Socialist? 
We  are  bound  to  admit  that  both  in  philosophy  and  in  poli- 
tics there  must  be  war  between  Socialism  and  the  Church." 

In  England,  too,  the  Socialists  are  the  avowed  enemies  of 
religion.  Blatchford,  who  is  well  known  to  his  comrades  for 
his  extensive  work  in  propagating  Socialism  by  the  pen,  wrote 
in  the  ^'Clarion,"  October  4,  1907: 

'^Believing  that  the  Christian  religion  was  untrue,  and  be- 
lieving that  all  supernatural  religions  were  inimical  to  human 
progress,  and  foreseeing  that  a  conflict  between  Socialism  and 
religion  was  inevitable,  I  attacked  the  Christian  religion.  I 
am  working  for  Socialism  when  I  attack  religion  which  is 
hindering  it." 

Again  in  his  book,  **God  and  My  Neighbor,"  Blatchford 
utters  the  following  blasphemies : 

am  an  easiful  old  pagan,  and  I  am  not  angry  with  you 
at  all — you  funny  little  champion  of  the  Most  High  

"This  is  the  God  of  Heaven?  This  is  the  Father  of  Christ? 
This  is  the  Creator  of  the  Milky  Way?  No!  He  will  not  do. 
He  is  not  big  enough.  He  is  not  good  enough.  He  is  not  clean 
enough.  He  is  a  spiritual  nightmare,  a  bad  dream  born  in 
savage  minds  of  terror  and  ignorance  and  a  tigerish  lust  for 
blood  

"Is  this  unspeakable  monster  the  Father  of  Christ?  Is  he 
the  God  who  inspireth  Buddha  and  Shakespeare  and  Beetho- 
ven and  Darwin  and  Plato?  No,  not  he.  But  in  warfare  and 
massacre,  in  rapine  and  rape,  in  black  revenge  and  in  deadly 
malice,  in  slavery  and  polygamy,  and  the  debasement  of 
woman,  and  in  the  pomps,  vanities  and  greeds  of  royalty,  of 
clericalism,  and  of  usury  and  barter — we  may  easily  discern 
the  influence  of  his  ferocious  and  abominable  personality." 

This  book  which  teaches  atheism  from  cover  to  cover  could 
be  bought  for  a  dollar  a  copy  in  1912  at  the  National  Office 
of  the  Socialist  Party  in  Chicago,  111. 

In  the  May,  1917,  issue  of  the  "International  Socialist  Re- 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  9 


view,"  "God  and  My  Neighbor,"  by  Blatchford,  is  thus  adver- 
tised : 

"Is  the  Bible  true?  This  is  the  chief  subject  of  debate  today 
between  Christians  and  Scientists  the  world  over.  Robert 
Blatchford  says:  'Is  the  Bible  a  holy  and  inspired  book  and 
the  Word  of  God  to  man,  or  is  it  an  incongruous  and  contra- 
dictory collection  of  tribal  tradition  and  ancient  fables,  writ- 
ten by  men  of  genius  and  imagination?  Mr.  Blatchford  be- 
lieves religions  are  not  revealed,  they  are  evolved. 

"  *We  cannot  accept  as  the  God  of  Creation,'  he  writes,  'this 
savage  idol,  Jehovah,  of  an  obscure  tribe,  and  we  have  re- 
nounced him  and  are  ashamed  of  him,  not  because  of  any  later 
divine  revelation,  but  because  mankind  has  become  too  en- 
lightened to  tolerate  Jehovah'." 

Ernest  Bax,  an  Englishman,  one  of  the  greatest  authorities 
in  the  world  on  Socialism,  an  author  who  even  in  America 
has  been  styled  "the  most  accomplished  writer  on  behalf  of 
Socialism  in  this  and  perhaps  in  any  country,"  in  his  book, 
"Religion  of  Socialism,"  thus  testifies  to  the  relation  existing 
between  Socialism  and  religion: 

"In  what  sense  Socialism  is  not  religious  will  now  be  clear. 
It  utterly  despises  the  other  world  with  all  its  stage  proper- 
ties— that  is  the  present  objects  of  religion."  ("Religion  of 
Socialism,"  by  Ernest  Belfort  Bax,  page  52  of  1891  edition.) 

Who  could  imagine  any  more  convincing  testimony  of  the 
atheistic  and  anti-religious  nature  of  the  Socialistic  movement 
than  the  following  words  of  the  English  Socialist,  James 
Leathan,  in  "Socialism  and  Character"? 

"At  the  present  moment  I  cannot  remember  a  single  in- 
stance of  a  person  who  is  at  one  and  the  same  time  a  really 
earnest  and  intelligent  Socialist  and  an  orthodox  Christian. 
Those  who  do  not  openly  attack  the  church  and  the  fabric  of 
Christianity,  show  but  scant  respect  to  either  the  one  or  the 

other  in  private  and  while  all  of  us  are  thus  indifferent 

to  the  church,  many  of  us  are  frankly  hostile  to  her.  Marx, 
Lassalle  and  Engels  among  earlier  Socialists:  Morris,  Bax 
Hyndman,  Guesde  and  Bebel  among  present  day  Socialists — 
are  all  more  or  less  avowed  atheists:  and  what  is  true  of  the 


10    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


more  notable  men  of  the  party  is  almost  equally  true  of  the 
rank  and  file  the  world  over." 

In  1910  a  pamphlet  entitled  '^Socialism  and  Religion"  was 
issued  by  the  Revolutionists  of  Great  Britain.  One  quotation 
from  it  will  amply  suffice  to  show  the  utter  contempt  of  the 
English  Socialist  for  religion : 

*'If  a  man  supports  the  church,  or  in  any  respect  allows 
religious  ideas  to  stand  in  the  way  of  principles  of  Socialism, 
or  activity  of  the  party,  he  proves  thereby  that  he  does  not 
accept  Socialism  as  fundamentally  true  and  of  the  first  im- 
portance, and  his  place  is  outside.  No  man  can  be  consistently 
both  a  Socialist  and  a  Christian.  It  must  either  be  the  Social- 
ist or  the  religious  principle  that  is  supreme,  for  the  attempt 
to  couple  them  equally  together  betrays  charlatanism  or  lack 
of  thought.  There  is,  therefore,  no  need  for  a  specifically  anti- 
religious  test.  So  surely  does  the  acceptance  of  Socialism  lead 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  supernatural,  that  the  Socialist  has 
little  need  for  such  terms  as  atheist,  freethinker  or  even  ma- 
terialist, for  the  word  Socialist  rightly  understood,  implies 
one  (who  on  all  such  questions)  takes  his  stand  on  positive 
science,  explaining  all  things  by  purely  natural  causation — 
Socialism  being  not  merely  a  politico-economic  creed,  but  an 
integral  part  of  a  consistent  world  philosophy." 

"The  Western  Clarion,"  a  publication  of  the  Canadian  So- 
cialists, declared  in  its  issue  of  May  23,  1914,  that  the  Socialist 
Party  of  Canada  would  have  "no  compromise  with  advocates 
of  Christianity." 

Alvarado,  the  governor  of  Yucatan,  and  his  criminal  sus- 
tainers  several  years  ago  drove  the  clergy  from  the  country, 
turned  the  churches  into  I.  W.  W.  meeting  houses,  and  turned 
some  as  in  the  case  of  the  Cathedral  of  Merida,  even  into 
warehouses.  Religion  was  outlawed  and  an  atheistic  tyranny 
established.  Alvarado  is  an  ardent  I.  W.  W.  Socialist  of  the 
most  violent  sort.  His  advent  into  Yucatan  from  the  lawless 
northern  part  of  Mexico  was  marked  by  wholesale  confisca- 
tion of  property,  by  robbery  and  outrage.  His  vile  subordi- 
nates of  like  origin  with  himself  committed  loathsome  crimes, 
unspeakable  and  without  number,  and  no  opportunity  was 
overlooked  to  persecute  the  unhappy  people,  whose  accumu- 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  11 


lations  by  thrift  and  industry  and  whose  steadfast  adherence 
to  their  religion  marked  them  as  certain  victims  of  robbery, 
murder  and  outrage. 

"The  Call/'  New  York,  April  9,  1919,  informs  us  that  the 
workers  in  Yucatan  have  elected  a  succession  of  Socialist  gov- 
ernors, and  in  its  issue  of  April  14,  1919,  under  the  caption, 
"Up  to  the  Minute  Official  Socialist  News,''  we  read  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"Felipe  Carrillo,  president  of  the  Socialist  Party  of  Yuca- 
tan, Mexico,  spoke  on  conditions  in  Yucatan.  Among  other 
things,  he  said:  *The  Socialist  Party  of  America  should  do 

everything  possible  against  intervention  in  Mexico   

All  the  public  officials,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  are 

members  of  the  Socialist  Party   There  is  no  middle 

class  in  Yucatan  The  Socialist  Party  of  Yucatan  has 

been  in  power  three  years.' 

"A  rising  vote  was  taken,  expressing  our  fraternal  greetings 
to  Felipe  Carrillo  and  the  Comrades  of  Yucatan." 

The  April  9,  1919,  issue  of  "The  Call"  also  informs  us  that 
Alvarado  in  1915  organized  the  Socialist  Party  of  Yucatan, 
62,700  members  of  which  belong  to  the  League  of  Resistance, 
an  organization  which  we  are  told  is  purely  economic  in  its 
activities. 

What  a  strange  name  for  an  economic  league,  especially  in 
Mexico,  where  economics  have  for  some  years  been  taught  by 
the  torch,  bomb,  dagger! 

The  March,  1919,  edition  of  "The  Eye  Opener,"  the  official 
organ  of  the  Socialist  Party  of  the  United  States,  throws  a 
little  light  on  this  economic  league  of  the  "knights  of  the  red 
flag."  On  page  4  of  that  issue  we  are  told  that  among  the 
principles  of  the  League  of  Resistance  are  the  following : 

"The  Land  is  Mother,  and  Labor  is  the  Father  of  Human- 
ity. Attack  no  one  without  motive,  but  never  present  the 
other  cheek  to  any  who  has  struck  one.  Fly  from  the  relig- 
ions, principally  the  Catholic  religion,  as  from  the  plagues." 

The  long  article  in  "The  Eye  Opener"  on  the  economic 
League  of  Resistance  en^s  with  "the  call  of  Yucatan  to  the 


12    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


rest  of  the  continent:  Workers  of  the  world,  unite.'*  Carillo 
is  then  quoted  as  saying: 

"Never  will  labor  conquer  until  it  understands  solidarity. 
Political  action,  economic  action,  perhaps  military  action — 
todos  metodos  necesitamos.  En  todas  las  epocas  del  mundo, 
rifley  dynamita  sean  necesarios;  pero  siempre  y  sobre  todo, 
solidaridad."  The  words,  "rifley  dynamita"  mean  nothing  and 
are  evidently  a  misprint  for  "rifles  y  dynamita."  There  was 
good  reason  for  letting  the  words  remain  in  the  Spanish  in 
the  official  organ  of  the  Socialist  Party  of  the  United  States, 
for  if  the  wprds  meant  were  "rifles  y  dynamita,"  the  following 
is  the  translation  of  the  Spanish  sentence:  "We  need 
all  means.  In  all  periods  of  the  world's  history,  rifles  and 
dynamite  may  be  necessary,  but  always  and  above  all, 
solidarity." 

So  much  for  the  economic  League  of  Resistance  of  the  So- 
cialists of  Yucatan  which  has  been  destroying  both  religion 
and  civilization  alike !  Carillo,  its  president,  has  been  greeted 
throughout  our  country  by  the  Socialists  who  have  been  ex- 
tending their  fraternal  greetings  also  to  the  rest  of  their 
"Comrades  in  Yucatan." 

THE  CONSPIRACY  IN  AMERICAN  SOCIALIST  LIT- 
ERATURE. 

Much  more  testimony  than  has  already  been  given  could 
easily  be  furnished  for  proving  that  the  Socialist  movement 
in  foreign  lands  is  atheistic  and  anti-religious,  but  as  suffi- 
cient has  been  given,  let  us  dwell  more  on  the  anti-religious 
activities  of  the  Revolutionists  in  our  own  country. 

In  answer  to  a  possible  objection,  namely,  that  the  Amer- 
ican Socialists  should  in  no  way  be  held  responsible  for  the 
anti-religious  and  atheistic  teachings  of  their  comrades 
abroad,  the  attention  of  the  reader  is  called  to  the  fact  that 
the  Socialist  movement  is  an  international  one,  and  that  nearly 
all  the  Marxian  leaders  in  Europe  are  considered  by  the 
American  Socialists  as  first  class  authorities  on  Socialism. 
Moreover,  the  books  and  writings  of  these  foreign  protago- 
nists form  a  very  considerable  part  of  the  Socialistic  litera- 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  13 


ture  of  the  United  States  and  are  considered  as  standard 
works  on  the  subject. 

But  in  addition  to  the  American  Socialists  thus  sharing  the 
responsibility  of  their  European  comrades,  the  Revolutionists 
of  our  own  country  will  now  come  forward  with  more  than 
enough  testimony  to  prove  that  they  are  just  as  guilty  as  their 
foreign  comrades  of  propagating  atheistic  and  anti-religious 
doctrines. 

Rev.  William  T.  Brown,  formerly  the  pastor  of  Plymouth 
Church,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  after  becoming  a  Socialist,  wrote 
the  following  in  the  May,  1902,  number  of  "Wilshire's  Mag- 
azine" : 

*'For  myself,  I  do  not  recognize  any  existing  church  or 
state  as  complete  in  itself  or  founded  by  God.  There  is  abso- 
lutely nothing  in  church  or  state  that  cannot  be  traced  to  a 

perfectly  natural  origin  Instead  of  the  religious  idea 

that  God  breathed  into  clay  the  breath  of  life,  and  so  man 
came  into  existence  in  the  image  of  God,  we  know  beyond 
question  that  man's  ancestors  were  animals,  and  he  is  the 

image  of  his  animal  parentage   Singing  hymns,  saying 

prayers,  learning  catechism,  attending  the  services  of  a  place 
miscalled  sanctuary  will  do  nothing  whatever  to  effect  the 
ends  for  which  men  are  striving    The  church  will  at- 

tract its  own,  and  the  Socialist  cause  will  draw  those  who 
belong  to  it.  People  who  are  interested  in  fossils  and  relics 
and  curios  will  find  a  congenial  place  in  the  church  as  will 
also  the  ignorant  and  deluded  masses." 

George  D.  Herron,  who,  like  William  T.  Brown,  had  once 
been  a  minister,  on  becoming  a  Socialist  expressed  his  athe- 
istic sentiments  by  writing  in  the  ''International  Socialist  Re- 
view," Chicago,  August,  1901 : 

"When  the  gods  are  dead  to  rise  no  more,  man  will  begin 
to  live.  After  the  end  of  the  gods,  when  there  is  nothing  else 
to  which  we  may  turn,  nothing  left  outside  of  ourselves,  we 
shall  turn  to  one  another  for  fellowship,  and  behold !  the  heart 
of  all  worship  is  exposed,  and  we  have  omnipotence  in  our 
hands   

"There  will  be  no  more  priests,  no  rulers,  no  judges,  when 


14    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


fellowship  comes  and  the  gods  are  gone.  And  when  there  are 
neither  priests,  nor  rulers,  nor  judges,  there  will  be  no  evil  on 
earth,  nor  none  called  good,  to  stand  over  against  others 
called  evil." 

John  Spargo,  formerly  a  Socialist  author  of  considerable 
renown  in  the  United  States,  and  until  recently  very  popular 
with  the  party,  speaking  of  education  in  ^'Socialism,  a  Sum- 
mary and  Interpretation  of  Socialist  Principles,"  touches  upon 
the  question  of  parochial  schools  in  the  Marxian  common- 
wealth : 

"Whether  the  Socialistic  regime  could  tolerate  the  existence 
of  elementary  schools  other  than  its  own,  such  as  privately 
conducted  kindergartens  and  schools,  religious  schools,  and  so 
on,  is  questionable.  Probably  not.  It  would  probably  not 
content  itself  with  refusing  to  permit  religious  doctrines  or 
ideas  to  be  taught  in  its  schools,  but  would  go  farther  and  as 
the  natural  protector  of  the  child,  guard  its  independence  of 
thought  in  later  life  as  far  as  possible  by  forbidding  religious 
teaching  of  any  kind  in  schools  for  children  up  to  a  certain 
age  

"This  restriction  of  religious  education  to  the  years  of 
judgment  and  discretion  implies  no  hostility  to  religion  on 
the  part  of  the  state,  but  neutrality."  ("Socialism,  a  Summary 
and  Interpretation  of  Socialist  Principles,"  by  John  Spargo, 
page  238  of  1906  edition.) 

"The  Call"  does  not  fail  to  publish  among  its  many  poems 
those  that  are  violently  anti-religious.  In  confirmation  of  this 
we  shall  transcribe  several,  all  of  which  furnish  excellent 
proofs  of  the  existence  of  the  conspiracy  against  religion. 

The  first  poem  that  will  be  quoted  appeared  in  the  Novem- 
ber 19,  1911,  edition,  and  reads  as  follows: 

"When  all  the  choric  peal  shall  end; 
That  through  the  fanes  hath  rung; 
When  the  long  lauds  no  more  ascend 
From  man's  adoring  tongue; 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  15 


When  overwhelmed  are  altar,  priest  and  creed; 

When  all  the  faiths  have  passed; 
Perhaps  from  darkening  incense  freed, 

God  may  emerge  at  last." 

The  subsequent  poem,  entitled  "To  the  Religionist,"  ap- 
peared on  the  same  day : 

**You  bid  us  spare  your  vision, 
Put  faith  in  a  life  after  death. 
Strive  on  toward  some  realm  Elysian 
And  heed  all  that  one  Book  saith. 

**You  would  pray  to  a  power  celestial, 
To  direct  us  in  all  our  ways. 
Lest  we  fall  to  a  region  bestial 
And  lose  ourselves  in  its  maze. 

"You  speak  of  the  Crucifixion 

Of  one  on  Calvary 
As  if  his  benediction 

Were  a  rank  monopoly. 

"Shall  we  pray  to  a  power  not  human 
For  guidance  miraculous 
When  the  nearest  man  or  woman 

Will  give  help,  and  without  that  fuss? 

"When  the  glorious  future  people 
Have  realized  our  dream. 
Then  the  cross  upon  the  steeple 
No  longer  shall  blaspheme. 

"The  godhood  of  the  lowly, 
Their  sacrifice  unknown; 
Of  the  temple  once  held  holy 
There  shall  not  last  one  stone." 


16    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


Only  two  stanzas  of  a  poem  which  appeared  in  "The  Call" 
March  17,  1912,  are  hereby  given: 

*'The  Gods  are  dead; 

Dead  lies  their  Heaven,  their  Hell. 
The  Gods  are  dead. 

With  all  their  terrors !  Well ! 

"Man  now  unmakes  them. 

Who  made  them  in  his  youth; 
He  boldly  breaks  them 

With  shattering  blows  of  truth." 

Editorials  and  articles  attacking  religion  are  of  very  com- 
mon occurrence  in  "The  Call.'*  Several  illustrations  will  suf- 
fice. In  the  May  1,  1912,  edition  we  read: 

"In  our  combat  with  the  natural  forces  we  have  been  taught 
by  science  to  seek  the  cause  and  effect  not  in  anything  super- 
natural; we  have  gotten  rid  of  superstition  and  fear  of  re- 
vengeful gods.'' 

The  following  short  article  appeared  on  November  19, 
1911,  in  the  same  paper: 

"Our  exploiters  might  as  well  understand  now  that  we  have 
no  use  for  the  distorted  and  mystical  figure  that  they  repre- 
sent as  Christ,  a  conservative  member  of  the  Property  De- 
fence League,  a  thing  neither  man  nor  woman,  but  a  third 
sex — not  understood  of  us  except  as  a  rightful  object  of  sus- 
picion; we  have  no  use  for  this  rant,  cant  and  fustian  of  his 
holiness  and  immaculate  qualities.  That  presentation  has  al- 
ways been  repellent  to  us  and  always  will  be,  no  matter  how 
much  he  may  be  proclaimed  as  the  friend  of  the  working- 
man    Christ,  the  democrat,  the  agitator,  the  revolu- 
tionary, the  rebel,  the  bearer  of  the  red  flag,  yes  we  can  un- 
derstand that  figure." 

Under  the  caption,  "The  Old  Year  and  the  New,"  an  edito- 
rial, part  of  which  is  hereby  given,  was  published  in  "The 
Call"  January  1,  1912: 

"Interesting  is  H  to  see  these  clerical  reactionists  trying  to 
kindle  into  P"    .  the  dying  embers  and  ashes  of  the  religious 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  17 


enthusiasm  of  past  ages,  now  on  the  point  of  flickering  out, 
and  marshaling  the  remnants  of  fear  and  ignorance  against 
the  inexorable  march  of  humanity  and  social  progress. 

"We  have  no  verbal  answer  to  expend  upon  them.  They 
are  not  worth  it.  Well  do  we  know  that  their  show  of  attack 
is  but  a  defensive  movement.  The  only  answer  they  need 
expect  from  us  will  be  given  in  the  steady  continuance  of  our 
work.  For  we  can  put  a  thousand  workers  into  the  field  for 
their  one,  and  despite  all  they  may  do,  we  will  take  from  them 
thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  those  who  now  fol- 
low them,  and  in  whose  ignorance  alone  lies  their  defensive 
strength.  Economic  conditions  fight  on  our  side.  Their  cap- 
italist Christ  cannot  feed  the  multitude.  We  can  teach  the 
multitude  hov/  to  feed  themselves." 

"The  Proletarian,"  the  Socialist  paper  of  Detroit,  in  its 
April,  1919,  edition  tells  us  that  "Socialism  is  not  a  religion, 
it  explains  the  causes  and  fallacies  underlying  all  religions.'' 

In  the  "International  Socialist  Review,"  August,  1908,  a 
notable  confession  is  made  relative  to  religion: 

"Religion  spells  death  to  Socialism,  just  as  Socialism  to  re- 
ligion. The  moment  Socialism  turns  into  a  religion  it  loses 
all  its  progressiveness,  it  ossifies  and  turns  into  a  superstition 
of  fanatics,  who  never  forget  and  never  learn  anything.  So- 
cialism is  essentially,  although  not  apparently,  a  free-thought 
movement.   The  thinking  Socialists  are  all  freethinkers." 

In  the  "Internationalist  Socialist  Review"  not  only  are 
there  many  articles  and  editorials  attacking  religion,  but  also 
many  advertisements  of  atheistical  and  anti-religious  books. 
For  instance,  in  the  February,  1912,  edition,  among  the  many 
works  advertised  on  page  512  the  following  are  listed  under 
the  heading,  "Free-Thought  Pamphlets": 

"Holy  Smoke  in  Holy  Land. 
Myth  of  the  Great  Deluge. 

Revelation  Under  the  Microscope  of  Evolution. 

Chas.  Darwin,  What  He  Accomplished. 

Jehovah  Interviewed. 

Church  and  State — by  Jefferson. 

Mistakes  of  Moses — by  Ingersoll. 


18    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


Ingersolia:  Gems  from  R.  G,  IngersoU. 

Age  of  Reason — by  Thos.  Paine. 

Ingersoll — 44  Lectures. 

Ingersoll's  Famous  Speeches." 
In  the  April,  1912,  edition  of  the  "International  Socialist 
Review/'  the  subsequent  additions  are  made  to  the  advertise- 
ments already  mentioned: 
"Voltaire. 

Confessions  of  a  Nun. 

Merry  Tales  of  the  Monks. 

Secrets  of  Black  Nunnery." 
Surely  such  books  as  these  would  not  be  extensively  adver- 
tised in  the  Review  and  in  the  Socialist  papers,  nor  would 
money  be  spent  in  this  way  by  their  publishers  unless  the 
atheistic  and  anti-religious  works  found  many  purchasers 
among  those  who  inserted  a  plank  in  their  party  platform 
stating  that  the  Socialist  movement  was  primarily  an  eco- 
nomic one  and  was  not  concerned  with  matters  of  religious 
belief. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1919  large  numbers  of  atheis- 
tical books  were  found  on  sale  by  the  author  of  "The  Red 
Conspiracy"  in  practically  all  of  the  Socialist  book  stores  that 
he  visited  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West. 

The  following  is  part  of  an  editorial  taken  from  the  "Com- 
rade," New  York,  January,  1904,  on  the  death  of  Herbert 
Spencer : 

"Dying  at  84  years  of  age,  Herbert  Spencer  leaves  behind 
him  an  enduring  monument  such  as  few  men  have  been  able 
to  build  for  themselves.  He  helped  to  rid  the  world  of  super- 
stition and  to  destroy  priestcraft;  he  put  the  idea  of  a  God- 
direction  of  the  world,  and  its  counterpart,  the  eternal  sub- 
jection and  the  dependence  of  man,  into  the  waste  paper  bas- 
ket of  history.  He  cleared  the  way  for  the  feet  of  the  army  of 
progress." 

In  the  propagation  of  atheism,  the  German  Socialist  papers 
of  the  United  States  are  worthy  imitators  of  those  that  are 
published  in  English. 

The  "New  Yorker  Volkszeitung,"  October  9,  1901,  thus 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  19 


acknowledges  the  atheistic  and  anti-religious  attitude  of  the 
revolutionary  movement : 

"Socialism  and  belief  in  the  Divinity  as  taught  by  Chris- 
tianity and  its  representatives  do  not  agree,  cannot  agree,  are 
diametrically  opposed  to  one  another.  Socialism  is  logical 
only  when  it  denies  the  existence  of  God,  when  it  maintains 
that  we  do  not  need  the  so-called  assistance  of  God,  since  we 
are  able  to  help  ourselves.  Only  he  who  has  no  faith  begins 
to  feel  that  he  can  accomplish  something.  The  laborer  who 
places  confidence  in  God,  and  who  with  Christian  resignation, 
thinks  that  all  is  done  by  God  is  well  done — how  can  that 
laborer  develop  revolutionary  forces  for  the  overthrow  of 
authority  and  social  order,  both  of  which,  according  to  his 
faith,  are  instituted  by  God?  As  long  as  he  clings  to  this  be- 
lief he  will  not  be  able  to  acquire  a  genuinely  revolutionary 
spirit." 

In  the  May  10,  1902,  edition  of  "Vorwarts,"  a  weekly  sup- 
plement of  the  "New  Yorker  Volkszeitung,"  we  read: 

"New  York,  May  6. — Archbishop  Corrigan  died  last  night 
after  a  protracted  illness.  Preparations  are  going  on  for  a 
grand  funeral  with  the  usual  paraphernalia.  The  soul  of  the 
prelate  whizzed  out  of  his  mortal  remains  straight  up  into  the 
seventh  heaven,  and  now  the  bishop  is  staying  there  with 
lovely  little  angels  and  other  beautiful  beings  hovering  about 
him.  Let  him  who  is  fool  enough,  believe  it.'' 

We  are  informed  by  "The  Call,"  April  5,  1911,  that  at  Utica, 
N.  Y.,  on  April  4,  1911,  churches  of  all  denominations  were 
placed  under  the  ban  of  the  Italian  Socialist  Federation  of  the 
United  States  at  the  closing  session  of  its  National  Congress, 
which  had  been  in  session  for  the  last  three  days  in  that  city 
and  that  strongly  worded  resolutions  charging  all  churches 
with  being  against  the  emancipation  of  the  working  class  and 
for  the  protection  and  perpetuation  of  capitalism  and  moral 
and  economic  slavery  were  unanimously  adopted  amid  vocif- 
erous applause;  finally  that  by  the  adoption  of  these  resolu- 
tions, all  members  of  the  federation  must  sever  their  affilia- 
tions with  any  and  all  existing  churches  and  religious  organ- 
izations and  refrain  from  all  religious  practices  and  rites. 


20    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


Some  information  regarding  the  atheistic  teachings  of  the 
New  York  "II  Proletario,"  the  official  organ  of  the  Italian  So- 
cialist Federation  of  the  United  States,  will  be  of  interest  td 
the  reader.  In  the  edition  of  December  23,  1910,  there  are 
several  attacks  on  Christianity.  One  of  these,  entitled  ''Christ- 
mas Is  Here,''  is  translated  as  follows: 

"Christmas  is  a  fib,  Christmas  is  a  fraud,  Christmas  is  a 
crime  wanted  and  continued  by  the  powerful  to  delude  their 
servants  and  to  make  them  believe  that  there  is  really  happi- 
ness, justice  and  love  on  this  earth   There  is  no  ever- 
lasting joy.  How  long,  O  poor  and  exhausted  workingmen 
of  the  world,  will  the  shameful  comedy  continue?  When  will 
you  finally  perceive  that  not  from  a  false  and  unexisting  God, 
not  from  a  mystical  and  epileptic  crucified  man,  who  died 
without  rebellion  and  without  protest,  will  come  your  redemp- 
tion? When  will  you  open  your  eyes  to  the  truth  of  Social- 
ism, and  realize  that  finally  upon  you  alone  depends  your  sal- 
vation?" 

In  the  same  edition  of  "II  Proletario"  there  is  a  detailed  list 
of  170  books  and  pamphlets  that  are  advertised  as  being  on 
sale  at  the  bookstore  of  the  Italian  Socialist  Federation.  The 
first  part  of  the  list,  under  the  heading  **Anti-Religious  Pam- 
phlets," includes  22  works,  whose  prices  range  from  5  cents 
to  30  cents.  Among  them  are  to  be  found: 
''The  Religious  Pest— 5  cents. 
The  Crimes  of  God — 5  cents. 
The  Sins  of  My  Lady  Penitents — 8  cents. 
The  Last  Religious  Lie — 5  cents. 
Neither  God  Nor  Soul— 15  cents." 
Near  the  end  of  the  detailed  list  22  more  works  are  adver- 
tised as  anti-clerical  novels. 

On  May  1,  1912,  while  its  editor,  Arthur  M.  Giovannitti, 
was  in  prison  at  Lawrence,  Mass.,  "II  Proletario"  published 
an  article  under  the  caption,  "The  Priest" : 

"Now  at  last  the  nations  have  understood  that  God  is  a 
monstrous  fable,  and  that  hell,  heaven,  immortality,  and  all 
the  other  devilish  things  are  states  created  by  rascals  to  de- 
spoil and  oppress  the  people." 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  21 


We  are  very  much  indebted  to  the  Social  Reform  Press  for 
favoring  us  with  the  translation  of  **The  Little  Catechism/' 
edited  by  Bartos  Bittner,  whose  dead  and  corrupt  body  was 
found  by  neighbors  in  his  lodging  in  Chicago.  This  blas- 
phemous Catechism,  from  which  quotations  are  hereby  given, 
was  published  for  the  use  of  the  children  of  the  Bohemian- 
American  Socialists. 

"Question.— What  is  God? 

"Answer. — God  is  a  word  used  to  designate  an  imaginary 
being  which  people  of  themselves  have  devised. 

"Q. — Is  it  true  that  God  has  never  been  revealed? 
"A. — As  there  is  no  God,  He  could  not  reveal  himself. 
"Q.— What  is  heaven? 

"A. — Heaven  is  an  imaginary  place  which  churches  have 
devised  as  a  charm  to  entice  their  believers. 
"Q. — How  did  man  originate? 

"A. — Just  as  did  animals;  by  evolution  from  their  lower 
kinds. 

"Q. — Has  man  an  immortal  soul  as  Christianity  teaches? 
"A. — Man  has  no  soul;  it  is  only  an  imagination. 
"Q.— Who  is  Jesus  Christ? 

"A. — Jesus  Christ  is  the  son  of  a  Jewish  girl  called  Mary. 
"Q.— Is  he  the  son  of  God? 

"A. — ^There  is  no  God,  therefore  there  can  be  no  God's  son. 

"Q. — Did  Christ  rise  from  the  dead  as  Christianity  teaches? 

"A. — ^The  report  about  Christ  rising  from  the  dead  is  a  fable. 

"Q. — ^Is  it  true  that  after  Christ's  death  the  Apostles  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Ghost? 

"A. — It  is  not;  the  Apostles  had  imbibed  too  freely  of  wine 
and  their  dizzy  heads  imagined  all  sorts  of  queer  things. 

"Q. — Did  Christ  ascend  into  heaven? 

"A. — ^He  did  not;  what  the  church  teaches  is  a  nonsensical 
fable,  because  there  is  no  heaven,  and  there  was  no  place  to 
ascend  to. 

"Q.— Will  Christ  come  to  this  earth? 

"A. — He  will  not  because  no  dead  person  can  come  back. 
"Q. — Will  Christ  return  on  judgment  day? 
"A. — There  will  be  no  judgment  day;  that  is  all  a  fable  so 
that  preachers  could  scare  people  and  hold  them  in  their 


22    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


grasp.  Man  has  no  soul,  neither  had  Christ  a  soul.  All  these 
things  have  been  invented  by  the  church. 
"Q.— What  is  the  Holy  Spirit? 

"A. — The  Holy  Spirit  is  an  imagination  existing  only  in 
the  minds  of  crazy  religious  people. 
"Q.— Is  Christianity  desirable? 

"A. — Christianity  is  not  advantageous  to  us,  but  is  harmful, 
because  it  makes  us  spiritual  cripples.  By  its  teachings  of 
bliss  after  death  it  deceives  the  people.  Christianity  is  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  mankind,  therefore  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  help  wipe  out  Christianity.  All 
churches  are  impudent  humbugs. 

"Q. — Is  there  communion  of  saints? 

"A. — No,  because  there  is  no  God,  no  saints,  no  soul,  and 
therefore  our  prayers  are  wholly  useless,  and  only  a  waste 
of  time,  which  should  be  spent  in  more  useful  things. 

"Q. — What  is  our  duty  when  we  have  learned  that  there 
is  no  God? 

"A. — We  should  teach  this  knowledge  to  others. 

"Q. — Should  we  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain? 

*'Yes,  because  the  name  of  God  has  no  meaning.'' 

Isidor  Ladoff,  a  Socialist  of  Cleveland.  Ohio,  and  a  candi- 
date for  office  in  1911,  speaks  very  frankly  about  religion  on 
page  11  of  his  pamphlet,  "Socialism,  The  Anti-Christ'': 

"The  Church  knows  that  Socialism  in  spite  of  the  declara- 
tion of  neutrality  of  the  latter  in  religious  matters,  under- 
mines the  very  foundation  of  the  former.  The  Church  realizes 
that  Socialism  is  Anti-Christ.  For  the  Church  it  is  a  question 
of  life  and  death,  a  struggle  for  existence.  Why,  then,  should 
the  Socialists  not  engage  in  an  open,  aggressive  campaign 
against  the  Church?  Would  not  an  honest  war  between  Christ 
and  Anti-Christ  be  more  dignified,  more  wise  and  more  effect- 
ive than  a  false  pretense  of  neutrality  and  a  defensive  attitude 
toward  the  attacks  of  the  Church?  Let  us  have  the  courage 
of  our  convictions,  not  only  in  matters  of  social  and  economic 
significance,  but  in  all  things  affecting  the  interests  of  the 
toiling  masses  of  humanity,  including  religious  institutions." 

Rev.  E.  E.  Carr,  writing  in  the  "Christian  Socialist,"  Chi- 
cago, May  15,  1907,  informs  us  that: 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  23 


'*The  Christian  Socialists  do  not  ask  or  desire  that  the 
Party  declare  for  religion.  Strictly  speaking,  Socialism  is  a 
purely  economic  proposition.  .  .  .  We  demand  absolute 
freedom  of  religious  opinion  in  the  party,  and  that  officials  of 
the  party  cease  teaching  anti-religious  dogma  as  an  essential 
part  of  Socialist  philosophy." 

THE  CONSPIRACY  IN  THE  NATIONAL  CONVEN- 
TION OF  THE  SOCIALIST  PARTY  AT  CHICAGO. 

Dishonest  Socialists,  when  arguing  that  their  party  does 
not  advocate  atheism  as  the  ''religion"  of  their  contemplated 
state,  frequently  appeal  to  the  religious  plank  of  their  1908 
National  Platform,  which  declares  that  the  Socialist  Party  is 
not  concerned  with  matters  of  religious  belief. 

Though  this  deceitful  appeal  of  the  ''Knights  of  the  Red 
Flag"  has  been  exposed  time  and  again,  still  it  seems  expedi- 
ent that  the  underhand  methods  of  the  party  which  boasts  of 
being  the  only  one  sufficiently  honest  and  upright  to  fight 
for  the  rights  of  poor  and  oppressed  workingmen,  be  better 
known  to  the  American  people,  and  that  the  more  important 
parts  of  the  indoor  convention  speeches  be  presented  in 
greater  detail. 

Pages  191  to  205  of  the  "Proceedings  of  the  1908  National 
Convention  of  the  Socialist  Party,"  edited  by  John  M.  Work, 
published  by  the  Socialist  Party,  and  sold  at  50  cents  a  copy 
at  the  National  Office  of  the  party,  Chicago,  111.,  bear  ample 
testimony  to  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Revolutionists. 

When  Delegate  Simons  had  finished  reading  the  proposal 
of  the  platform  committee  "that  religion  be  treated  as  a 
private  matter- — a  question  of  individual  conscience,"  Arthur 
M.  Lewis,  a  delegate  from  Illinois  arose  and  moved  its  re- 
jection, saying: 

"I  am  among  those  who  sincerely  hoped  the  question  of 
religion  would  not  be  raised  at  this  convention.  I  am  willing 
to  concede  so  far  that  we  shall  let  sleeping  dogs  lie.  I  know 
that  the  Socialist  position  in  philosophy  on  the  question  of 
religion  does  not  make  a  good  campaign  subject.  It  is  not 
useful  in  the  propaganda  of  a  presidential  campaign,  and 


24    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


therefore  I  am  willing  that  we  should  be  silent  about  it.  But 
if  we  must  speak,  I  propose  that  we  shall  go  before  this  coun- 
try with  the  truth  and  not  with  a  lie.  .  .  .  Now  I  do  not  pro- 
pose to  state  in  this  platform  the  truth  about  religion  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  Socialist  philosophy  as  it  is  stated  in 
almost  every  book  of  standard  Socialist  literature ;  but  if  we 
do  not  do  that,  let  us  at  least  have  the  good  grace  to  be  silent 
about  it,  and  not  make  hypocrites  of  ourselves.  ...  I  say, 
let  us  either  tell  the  truth  or  have  the  good  grace  and  the 
common  sense  and  the  stamina  and  the  manhood  and  the 
self  respect  to  keep  our  mouths  shut  about  it.  Therefore  I 
move  this  be  stricken  from  the  platform." 

Delegate  Hillquit  of  New  York  urged  the  following 
amendment  as  a  substitute  for  the  one,  the  ratification  of 
which  Lewis  had  tried  to  prevent :  *'The  socialist  movement  is 
primarily  an  economic  and  political  movement.  It  is  not 
concerned  with  the  institutions  of  marriage  or  religion."  Hill- 
quit  then  went  on  to  say: 

**The  fact  that  Comrade  Lewis  as  a  scholar,  as  a  student 
of  psychology,  of  history,  of  ethics  and  of  everything  else, 
has  in  the  domain  of  religion  come  to  the  position  of  an 
agnostic,  and  that  99  per  cent  of  us  have  landed  in  the  same 
spot,  does  not  make  Socialism  agnostic,  nor  is  Socialism 
Christian,  nor  is  Socialism  Jewish.  Socialism  hasn't  anything 
to  do  with  t;hat  side  of  our  existence  at  all.  I  say  to  you,  com- 
rades, if  we  are  to  follow  Comrade  Lewis's  advice,  and  to  say 
in  our  platform  and  declaration  of  principles  what  is  true,  let 
us  not  be  afraid  to  insert  in  it  the  things  we  are  advocating 
day  after  day  and  on  all  occasions." 

Delegate  Unterman  of  Idaho,  speaking  in  favor  of  the  adop- 
tion of  the  religious  plank  as  originally  proposed  by  the  plat- 
form committee  and  read  by  Simons,  added : 

"Comrades,  no  one  will  accuse  me  of  any  sympathy  with 
Christianity,  either  as  a  church  or  as  a  religion.  I  am  known 
in  the  United  States  as  a  materialist  of  the  most  uncompro- 
mising order.  But  I  want  it  clearly  understood  that  my  ma- 
terialist philosophy  does  not  permit  me  to  strike  this  plank 
out  of  the  platform.    I  want  it  understood  that  my  materialist 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  25 


dialectics  do  not  permit  me  to  forget  the  exigencies  of  the 
moment  for  our  ideals  in  the  far  future.  .  .  .  Would  you  ex- 
pect to  go  out  among  the  people  of  this  country,  people  of 
different  churches,  of  many  different  religious  factions,  and 
tell  them  that  they  must  become  atheists  before  they  can 
become  Socialists?  That  would  be  nonsense.  We  must  first 
get  these  men  convinced  of  the  rationality  of  our  economic 
and  political  program,  and  then  after  we  have  made  Socialists 
of  them  and  members  of  the  Socialist  party,  we  can  talk  to 
them  inside  of  our  ranks,  talk  of  the  higher  philosophy  and  of 
the  logical  consequences  of  our  explanation  of  society  and 
nature.  .  .  .  We  should  not  go  out  in  our  propaganda  among 
people  that  are  as  yet  unconvinced  and  are  still  groping  in 
ignorance  and  obscurity,  and  tell  them  that  they  first  must 
become  materialists  before  they  can  become  members  of  the 
Socialist  party.  No.  This  declaration  that  religion  is  a  pri- 
vate matter  does  not  mean  that  it  is  not  a  social  matter,  or 
class  matter  at  the  same  time.  It  merely  means  that  we  shall 
bide  our  good  time  and  wait  till  the  individual  is  ready, 
through  his  own  individual  evolution,  to  accept  our  philos- 
ophy. It  means  that  we  shall  give  him  plenty  of  time  to 
grow  gradually  to  the  things  that  are  necessary  to  him,  and 
those  material  things  that  affect  his  material  welfare,  the  eco- 
nomic and  political  question  of  Socialism.  After  he  has 
grown  into  them,  it  will  be  so  much  easier  to  approach  him 
with  the  full  consequences  of  the  Socialist  philosophy.  There- 
fore I  ask  you  to  retain  this  plank  in  our  platform." 

Delegate  Stirton  gave  the  subsequent  reason  for  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  adoption  of  any  religious  plank  in  the  party  plat- 
form : 

"If  this  statement  is  true  that  religion  is  no  concern  of  our 
movement,  as  stated  in  the  amendment,  or  in  the  original 
recommendation  that  it  is  a  private  matter — if  that  is  a  true 
statement,  then  we  don't  need  it.  If  it  is  a  lie,  then  we  don't 
want  it." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Delegate  Lewis  at  an  earlier 
session  of  the  convention  had  said:  "Let  us  either  tell  the 
truth  or  have  the  good  grace  and  the  common  sense  and 
stamina  and  the  manhood  to  keep  our  mouths  shut  about  it." 


26    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


(i.  e.,  religion  from  the  viewpoint  of  Socialist  philosophy.) 
To  show  his  insincerity,  we  shall  now  quote  parts  of  a  second 
speech  made  by  him  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day  on  which 
he  had  spoken  so  eloquently  in  behalf  of  asserting  the  truth 
and  not  telling  a  lie. 

"I  have  gone  into  conference,"  he  says,  **between  the  after- 
noon session  and  the  evening  session  with  most  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  platform  committee,  and  I  have  reached  an  agree- 
ment with  them  which  I  am  sure  the  convention  would  be 
glad  to  hear,  and  it  will  dispose  of  this  question,  I  think  amic- 
ably to  all  concerned.  ...  I  consider  myself  and  every  other 
delegate  on  this  floor  as  being  present  at  this  convention  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  promoting  the  best  interests  of  the  Social- 
ist Party.  I  am  willing  to  waive  any  personal  views  of  mine, 
and  I  believe  the  members  of  the  platform  committee  are  in 
the  same  position,  to  promote  those  interests.  .  .  .  While  it 
may  not  harmonize  with  my  personal  opinion  to  have  this 
plank  remain  in  the  platform,  I  am  willing  to  sink  those 
personal  opinions  rather  than  put  the  Socialist  movement  in 
America  in  a  false  position  and  lay  it  open  to  the  attacks  of 
our  enemies.'' 

Victor  Berger  of  Wisconsin  mentioned  expediency  as  his 
reason  for  favoring  the  adoption  of  a  religious  plank  and 
argued : 

"In  the  first  place,  a  plank  of  this  kind  you  will  find  in  every 
platform  or  program  of  every  other  civilized  nation  in  the 
world.  Yet  in  no  country  do  they  have  as  much  reason  for 
it  as  in  this  country.  There  is  not  a  race  in  the  world  that  is 
as  thoroughly  religious  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  If  you 
want  a  party  made  up  of  free-thinkers  only,  then  I  can  tell 
you  right  now  how  many  you  are  going  to  have.  If  you  want 
to  wait  with  our  co-operative  commonwealth,  until  you  have 
made  a  majority  of  the  people  into  free-thinkers,  I  am  afraid 
we  will  have  to  wait  a  long  while.  I  say  this,  although  I  am 
known,  not  only  in  Milwaukee,  but  wherever  our  papers  are 
read — as  a  pronounced  agnostic.  .  .  .  You  can  hardly  find  a 
paper  in  which  we  are  not  denounced  as  men  who  want  to 
abolish  all  religion  and  abolish  God.  Something  must  be  done 
in  order  to  enable  us  to  show  that  Socialism,  being  an  eco- 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  27 


nomic  theory — or  rather  the  name  for  an  epoch  of  civiUzation 
— has  nothing  to  do  with  religion  either  way,  neither  pro  nor 
con/' 

Delegate  Vander  Porten  opposed  the  adoption  of  the  plank 
as  originally  read  by  Simons  and  urged  the  adoption  of  Morris 
Hillquit's  amendment: 

**Nobody  regrets  more  than  I  do  that  this  question  has 
arisen  in  this  convention  but  as  long  as  it  occupies  the  posi- 
tion that  it  does,  I  believe  that  if  there  is  to  be  any  expression 
upon  it,  that  expression  should  be  the  truth  and  not  a  lie.  .  .  . 
When  we  talk  of  educating  mankind  and  when  we  talk  of  rais- 
ing mankind  above  the  level  in  which  he  is,  then  we  have  got 
to  throw  from  his  arms  those  crutches  that  bind  him  to  his 
slavery,  and  religion  is  one  of  them.  Let  it  be  understood  that 
the  moment  the  Socialist  party's  whole  aim  and  object  is  to 
get  votes,  we  can  get  them  more  quickly  by  trying  to  please 
the  religionists  and  those  whose  only  ambition  is  to  pray  God 
and  crush  mankind.  .  .  .  Let  us  say  nothing  or  say  the  truth. 
To  spread  forth  to  the  world  that  religion  is  the  individual's 
affair,  and  that  religion  has  no  part  in  the  subjection  of  the 
human  race,  we  lie  when  we  say  it."  , 

After  several  other  delegates  had  spoken,  the  "Proceedings 
of  the  1908  National  Convention"  informs  us  that  the  chair- 
man put  the  question  on  the  acceptance  of  the  substitute 
offered  by  Delegate  Hillquit,  and  the  result  being  in  doubt, 
a  show  of  hands  was  called  for,  and  the  vote  resulted  in  79 
for  the  substitute,  and  78  against  it. 

Those  who  honestly  voted  against  the  plank  admitted 
thereby  that  the  Socialist  party  was  very  much  concerned 
with  matters  of  religious  belief  and  that  the  Revolutionists 
were  then,  just  as  they  are  to-day,  the  bitter  enemies  of 
religion. 

The  79  who  voted  for  the  plank  did  so,  not  because  they 
had  any  love  for  religion,  for  this  is  evident  from  their 
speeches  and  from  their  method  of  procedure,  but  because 
they  considered  that  a  great  deal  of  prejudice  against  Social- 
ism would  be  removed  by  the  adoption  of  a  plank  stating  that 
the  Socialist  party  is  primarily  an  economic  and  political 


28    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


movement,  and  that  it  is  not  concerned  with  matters  of  re- 
ligious belief. 

On  one  single  plank  therefore  there  were  79  liars  in  the 
Socialist  National  Convention  out  of  a  possible  157.  Quite 
an  unenviable  record  for  the  party  which  is  so  fond  of  ac- 
cusing its  opponents  of  lies  and  falsehoods! 

When  speeches  against  religion  such  as  the  ones  quoted 
can  be  delivered  at  the  national  convention  of  a  political  party, 
without  arousing  anything  like  serious  opposition  among  the 
delegates  present,  or  among  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party 
who  afterwards  read  them,  the  only  reasonable  conclusion  to 
be  drawn  is  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
party  either  advocate  atheism  or  else  are  in  sympathy  with 
those  who  do. 

For  four  long  years  the  Socialists  all  over  the  country  ap- 
pealed to  the  religious  plank  of  their  1908  platform  to  prove 
that  their  party  was  not  opposed  to  religion;  and  although 
they  were  aware  that  the  plank  was  a  lie,  they  were  not  suf- 
ficiently honest  to  have  it  removed  by  referendum,  as  could 
have  been  done  at  any  time.  The  plank  was  finally  dropped 
by  the  National  Convention  of  1912  and  has  not  since  then 
been  re-adopted.  This,  however,  was  not  because  the  Social- 
ists as  a  body  had  become  more  upright  through  their  adher- 
ence to  atheism,  but  because  their  lies  concerning  religion  had 
become  pretty  well  known  all  over  the  United  States. 

No  doubt  the  reader  will  be  interested  in  the  following 
quotation  taken  from  "The  Communist,"  The  Left  Wing 
Socialist  paper  of  Chicago.  In  the  April,  1919,  edition  there 
is  an  article  by  John  R.  Ball,  entitled  ^'Challenge  of  the  S.  P." 
(i.  e.,  the  Socialist  Party)  "of  Michigan" : 

"When  the  delegates  to  a  State  Socialist  Convention  gath- 
ered in  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  Feb.  24,  1919,  to  nominate 
candidates  for  the  coming  State  Elections,  they  were  deter- 
mined to  do  much  more  than  to  go  through  the  mere  for- 
malities of  complying  with  State  Election  Laws.  .  .  . 

"There  were  many  striking  features  about  the  personnel  of 
the  delegates:  not  only  were  the  preachers  entirely  absent, 
but  their  following  also.   A  Christian  Socialist  would  have 


THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION  29 


felt  lonesome  indeed,  with  no  one  to  act  as  a  listener  for 
him.  ... 

"Fearless  and  unashamed,  in  true  Bolshevik  fashion,  the 
delegation  paid  no  heed  to  the  prejudice  of  some,  but  adopted, 
with  one  opposing  vote,  an  additional  constitutional  amend- 
ment, guided  solely  by  historic  facts  and  scientific  data.  A 
Socialist  who  understands  the  Materialistic  Conception  of 
History  cannot  have  faith  in  superstitions  of  any  kind.  In 
other  words,  a  'religious'  or  'Christian'  Socialist  is  a  contradic- 
tion of  terms,  and  the  statement  that  'religion  is  a  private  mat- 
ter' is  a  lie.  The  belief  in  a  supreme  being  or  beings  is  a  social 
phenomenon  which  can  be  explained  on  the  materialistic  basis, 
just  as  all  economic  phenomena  can  be  explained.  With  per- 
sistent adherence  to  honesty,  the  convention  adopted  a  reso- 
lution and  a  constitutional  amendment  declaring  religion  to 
be  a  social  phenomenon  and  instructing  all  organizers  and 
speakers  to  explain  religion  upon  its  materialistic  basis. 

"Here  again  the  Socialist  party  of  Michigan  issued  a  direct 
challenge  to  the  National  Organization.  This  time  it  is  not  a 
challenge  in  regard  to  tactics,  but  we  challenge  the  honesty  of 
the  National  Organization  in  declaring  that  'religion  is  a 
private  matter.'  " 

Sufficient  evidence  has  now  been  given  for  proving  that  the 
Socialists  are  the  declared  enemies  of  the  Church,  not  merely 
the  Catholic  Church,  but  every  Church.  They  are  conspiring 
to  destroy  an  institution  which,  apart  from  the  supernatural 
blessings  that  it  has  conferred  upon  mankind,  has  done  won- 
ders to  promote  the  happiness  of  nations.  To  the  Church 
many  countries  owe  their  civilization  and  their  conversion 
from  heathenism.  She  has  preserved  for  us  the  priceless 
treasures  of  art  and  learning  that  would  otherwise  have  fallen 
a  prey  to  the  ravages  of  the  barbarians.  For  centuries  she 
has  trained  untold  millions  to  observe  the  Commandments 
of  God,  and  has  thus  been  instrumental  in  the  prevention  of 
innumerable  crimes  and  sins  from  which  the  human  race 
would  have  suffered.  Not  only  has  she  taught  the  people  the 
virtues  of  charity,  justice,  temperance,  humility,  liberality, 
purity,  meekness  and  forgiveness  of  enemies,  and  been  a 
source  of  immense  consolation  to  the  poor  and  oppressed,  the 


30    THE  SOCIALIST  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  RELIGION 


sick  and  the  injured,  but  she  has  comforted  millions  of  the 
dying,  who  when  they  realized  that  no  earthly  joys  remained, 
took  hope  and  delight  at  the  thought  of  an  eternal  reward  in 
heaven. 

It  is  this  glorious  institution  then,'  founded  by  Almighty 
God  Himself,  that  the  Socialists  hate  with  all  their  hearts,  and 
would  destroy  forever,  because  it  prevents  the  spread  of  their 
revolutionary  doctrines  by  teaching  respect  for  law,  order  and 
authority,  and  by  exposing  to  all  the  world  the  deceptions, 
frauds  and  empty  promises  of  the  conspirators  against 
religion. 


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